HOW IT ALL HAPPENED?

FLASHBACK

[AIR TOWER]

The world of immortal cultivators was surrounded by air that sparkled with energy and light.

Tao sits cross-legged, trying to get stronger by cultivating the Qi in the air around him.

Even though he was already powerful and the best cultivator in the transcendent realm, he wanted more. Most other cultivators in the transcendent realm were satisfied and put off all desires to move further. But Tao, ever determined, found out that there was a realm above the transcendent realm known as the Elder realm.

Tao was determined to break into this realm and be the first cultivator to attain this height.

"I need to connect to this realm," Tao spoke in his mind as he continued to sense the energy around him. Reaching it to harness it was the most difficult task he had ever faced.

As he focused, deepening his meditation, trying to snap the barrier between the transcendent realm and the Elder realm, a voice called out to him.

"Tao, you must not attempt to go deeper!"

Tao could hear his friend, Yu, a fellow cultivator in the transcendent realm, begging him to stop advancing.

Just as Yu was trying to convince him to stop, his other friend, Liang, ran down to join Yu in convincing Tao.

"The rumors, they are not just rumors, they are true. The Elder realm is ruled by the air demon, Na'ru, and he won't let you through this realm. He has sworn that only he can forever attain this height," Liang said.

They loved their friend so much, and from the very beginning of their cultivation journey from the Elemental realm to this realm, they had fought battles against dark immortals along the way, but none like Na'ru, the air demon.

"The cultivators before us, can't you see they all stopped at this realm? That is because they fear incurring the wrath of Na'ru," Yu reminded Tao.

As they spoke, Tao heard their voices, but he wasn't listening. He had always been the stubborn type, and that was the attribute that helped him climb up to be the best in his sect. He was very determined.

"Tao!!" Liang called out, but Tao didn't answer. At this point, Tao is beginning to feel the fragments of the energy he had been searching for a very long time. All he needed was to tap into the energy, absorb it, harness it and channel it to break the barrier and leap into the Elder realm.

For this, he refused to get distracted by his friends.

All of a sudden, in his meditation position, a vision of the air demon, Na'ru, appeared before him.

"You should have listened to your friends; they are wiser than you are," Na'ru spoke to him through a trance as he meditated.

Tao's body trembled, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead the moment Na'ru revealed his monstrous face to him. He had never seen anything as scary.

Tao tried to pull away and retreat back to the realm he was, but he no longer had control of his mind.

He was being sucked in by Na'ru. It was happening in his mind, but his friends could see that his clothes were burning away from his body. At that moment, they knew Na'ru had trapped him in his meditation.

"Now, I'm going to make you regret this day. You should have been satisfied in the transcendent realm, but you chose to compete with me," Na'ru growled at Tao.

"I will push you back to dust. I will make you go lower than when you started your journey; I will make you worthless by sending you below the Elemental realm where you started," Na'ru said, and Tao's eyes tore open.

He fell from where he sat on the air, meditating, and Yu and Liang came to help him stand on his feet. His clothes were burnt up.

All of a sudden, a thick black cloud enveloped the Air Tower, and then three portals opened behind them; one behind Tao, one behind Liang, and another behind Yu.

"What is happening?!" Liang shouted, as fear gripped the three of them.

"Tao, thank you for being stubborn. With the channel you created through meditation, my darkness has found its way into the light of this place, and it shall take over and rule this world now," Na'ru laughed.

"Now, it is time to send you far below where you started from!" Na'ru spoke with a thunderous voice.

This time, all three of them could hear him, and all of a sudden a strong and mighty hand materialized from the shadows and swept them into the portals...

END OF FLASHBACK

* * * * * * 

EARTH KINGDOM

[LIN'S TENT — NIGHT]

Tao's mind drifted back to his body as he felt the really gentle touch of a hand on his bare chest.

Tao turned around and found Lin so close to him.

"You've been thinking, you should stop thinking now. All you have to do is relax," Lin whispered, bringing her face very close to his.

Tao began to wonder why she was getting so close to him, he didn't understand. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and straightened up a little.

"You don't understand, nobody understands me," Tao said bitterly.

Lin stroked his chest with a gentle touch.

"I understand that you're just stressed out because you're thinking about too many things," Lin whispered into his face.

"How can I relax? I can't relax," he said, his worry showing on his face.

"I can help you relax if you let me," Lin said, and Tao's brows drew together.

"How?" he asked, obviously confused. He wondered if she was trying to think of something to bring him back to his world, but suddenly Lin took off her top and moved closer to him.

He looked down at her and liked what he saw. Tao was extremely good-looking, and it was difficult for any girl who had her gaze to miss him.

As she approached him, Tao believed that getting involved with her was a distraction. He believed he should concentrate on the mystery that surrounded him.

Besides, he had never slept with a human girl before. Everything seemed strange to him.

When Lin kissed him, he resisted, but she kept pushing, and just as he was about to pull her away, a loud voice rang through the room.

"What's going on here?"

Lin quickly covered herself up and stood up. She hung her head and stood still when she saw Commander Chen.

"You slave, you have the guts to touch a maiden of this land?" Chen said and rushed towards Tao.

Tao, who was now wearing trousers, had no shirt on and his wound was only covered with a bandage.

Commander Chen wrapped his hands around Tao's neck and squeezed his throat. He aimed his knee at Tao's wound and hit him hard.

"Arhhh!" Tao growled in pain through clenched teeth, his heart pounding as he sank to his knees, clutching his wound.

Lin felt ashamed for being found with someone she thought to be a servant.

"You, how can a girl as beautiful as you give herself to a slave, huh?" Whispered Chen as he held her chin and lifted her head.

"You're far too beautiful, and you should only try to give yourself to someone of high social status, someone like me," Chen spoke in a gentle tone.

It was obvious that he was overcome with jealousy. 

"He, he threatened me. Tao tried to force me to sleep with him, otherwise he'd kill me, please save me," Lin whispered to Chen.

She was embarrassed and couldn't bear the thought of everyone knowing that she was offering herself to a slave.

Chen's eyes widened.

"He did what?" Chen asked, and Lin fell into his arms, pretending it was harassment.

"Yes, Commander Chen, he said he'd kill me," Lin added, and Chen gritted his teeth.

Tao was still in pain, but he was furious, how could Chen treat him like this?

Commander Chen turned away from Lin and looked at Tao.

"Did you do this? Did you threaten this beautiful maiden and ask her to sleep with you?"

"I didn't! I didn't force her to sleep with me, she tried to seduce me," Tao said in a firm and calm voice.

"He's lying, Commander Chen, he tore off my clothes and tried to touch me," Lin said, and Chen clenched his fists and rushed towards Tao.

"I'm not lying, she's the one lying to you," he begged Chen to understand, but no, he wouldn't believe a stranger over a beauty he already knew.

He lunged at Tao and kicked and punched him all over his body, knocking him to the ground, but Tao picked himself up.

"If you touch me again, I will fight back. I will unleash my Qi and destroy you," Tao said.

Anger coursed through him. He had no idea what he was saying, he knew for a fact that he had lost his Qi, how could he fight back.

Lin and Chen's laughter filled the room and Tao gritted his teeth.

"I may have lost my Qi, but I am no pushover, I will fight back the next time you hit me," Tao said. Anger was written all over his face.

"I'd like to see you fight me," Chen said, and Tao lunged at him to fight him, but Commander Chen was physically a thousand times stronger than him.

Tao's punches were like a massage on Chen's chest, and then Chen gave him a headbutt that instantly blurred his vision.

"You are nothing but a weakling!" Chen shouted as he lifted him up and threw him across the room, where he landed on a wooden table.

"Thank you, Commander Chen, thank you for saving me from this man," Lin said and went to hug Chen.

Chen was proud as she rubbed his chest. He pulled her close and kissed her.

"My mortal body is weak, without my Qi I am nothing. In order for me to survive in this world without my Qi, I have to build up my physical strength," Tao thought in his head as he lay on the ground, drowning in pain.

"That's what Na'ru promised me, he swore to send me to a state worse than my original state. I started on the elemental plane as an immortal cultivator in the Air Tower, and that was the lowest level, now that I had scaled the transcendent realm, I was not only sent back to the elemental realm, but also below it to become a mortal in a world I have never been to."

As he lay there, Chen walked over and handcuffed him again.

"I will take him to master now, I can not keep him with you until dawn, who knows what he'd do next." Chen said and dragged Tao out of Lin's tent.

As he dragged Tao to his camel, Tao saw something through the dark night. He saw a star, a particular one that he recognized from the Air Tower. It was no ordinary star, it meant something when seen.

"Ira," Tao murmured the star's name, lost at the sight of it in the sky.

"How come I can see Ira from here?" He asked himself.

Chen's camel broke off, interrupting his thoughts, and he trudged after them.